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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128231
F IM World Championsh ip M o toc r o s s S e r ie s R o u nd 1 1 : L o k e t C ir c u it S TO RY AND PHOT OS BY G EO FF M E YER LOKET, CZECH REPUBUC, AUG. 31 ~ h en 30 -year -old St efan Evert s crosse d th e fin ish line at th e penu ltimat e ro und of the World Mot oc rossGP Champi onship in th e Czech Republic , he di d so as a seven-time Wor ld Mot ocross Cha m p io n an d , in do in g so , became th e gr eatest Grand Prix m otocross rid er of all tim e. It wa s back in the summer of 1972 that fellow Bel g ian J o el Ro be rt c a pt ured h i s six th W o rl d t itl e, a r e c ord t h a t h e h ad h e l d f o r m or e t h an 30 y ears , and he ac hi ev ed h is last c h am p io n sh ip three m onths before Everts was eve n born . Many had pred ict ed early in hi s career that Ev erts w ou ld one da y b reak Robe rt 's record , bu t having spe nt tw o ye ars side lined with inj u ry in 1999 and 2 0 0 0, some started to doubt i f Ev erts wo uld get th er e. But he d id . "T his is something I have been working for s ince I sta rted GP s in 1989 - to b e se v en tim es World Champion ," Everts said . "I was very happy to win m y W 50th Gr and Pri x in Namu r back a few ye ars ago , but to eq ual t he winn in g mark o f J o e l Rob ert i s som ethi ng sp ec i a l in m e. To w i n m ore Wor ld ti tl es than an yb o dy else, m o re th a n Robert , m o re t ha n D eC o st e r , m o re tha n Geboers, that's som ethi ng to be p roud of. E v e n now it is o nly just sta rt ing to si nk in, but in a few m ore days I guess I will fi nally reali ze that m y d ream has co me true ." To m ake m att ers all the m or e inter est ing for Evert s wa s his do mination of th e 125cc race. Today 's v icto ry in the 125cc cl ass al so gave the Belg ian his 69 th Gra nd Pri x wi n of his ca ree r and his 13th GP v ictory of th e season , ad di n g y et an oth er re c o rd fo r m o st ov erall w ins in a sing l e yea r. The p revious rec ord hol der was Mi ckael Pichon , wh o won 12 Grands Prix in last season ' s 250cc ch ampions hip. A n e mo t ion a l E ve rts brok e in t o tea rs wh il e t a lk in g ab ou t the challenge ahead of him in 2 00 3 , an d he al so tol d of his struggle to m ak e hi story , fir st hav ing to pu ll back from a 2 5-point deficit after the first three Gr an ds Prix of th e season , and also fo r the wish that his un cl e (w ho died last yea r) wou ld be by his side for th e ce lebratio ns . "I nev er ga ve up ," Evert s said. "To co me b a c k f r o m b ei n g 2 5 po i n ts down o n Mic kael Pich on after three Grands Prix - th at was reall y a to ugh thin g to d o. T h i s seaso n is a ve ry special year fo r m e. I always looke d 38 e SEPTEMBER 10, 2003' cue ne""s at winning seve n ti tles, so to do it has four. Losi ng t o Stefan [Evert s] in the left m e litt le m ore to ac hieve in th is sp o rt. I wish m y unc le was here. He was a hu ge insp iration for m e, and I still mi ss him ." Joel Smets al so add ed his o w n nam e to the rec or d books. The KTM mounted Belg ian won his fifth World Motocross Champion ship , t aki ng vic tory in the 6 50cc m o to and addi ng eno ug h points t o cl inch th e cla ss titl e. MotocrossGP Cham p io nshi p is d lsap pointing , alt ho ug h I gave it ev ery thing I had, and he ro de a rea lly g reat sea· so n . Roger D eC ost er was my h ero whe n I was a bo y , so to eq ual him is reall y sp ecial. " " I h av e spe n t th e last few years l o o k in g at St ef an Ev e rts w i n ning Everts a lso won today 's 125 c c rac e and, in doing so , moved to w ith in 24 po ints o f se rie s l ead er St ev e Ra mo n . It wou ld take a m iracl e for Ev erts t o w in t he ' 03 W or l d 12 5cc Wo rld tit les," Sm ets said. "It was nic e title, bu t if Ram on suffe rs a DN F and Ev e rt s w i ns, a s ex pecte d , th e t i tl e to get the 650cc tit le; it' s been a class wo u ld go t o E verts . N ew Zeal an d ' s t h at I fee l I h a ve o w ned fo r a lo ng t im e . I won my fi r st W or ld tit le in 19 9 5 , a nd no w I' v e ad ded anot he r Ben T ow nley fi n ished seco nd in th e 125 c c race , with d efending W or l d 125 cc Ch am pi on Micka el Masch io in